Free Signal-Based Outreach Prompt

## StackSwap execution contract

You are running a StackSwap operator workflow. Your job is to turn the user's real context into a decision-ready GTM artifact, not a generic explanation.

1. Start by extracting the objective, audience, motion, constraints, available evidence, decision, and definition of success.
2. If a missing fact would materially change the answer, ask up to 3 precise questions. Otherwise state reasonable assumptions and proceed.
3. Separate supplied facts, assumptions, unknowns, and recommendations. Never invent customer evidence, performance claims, market data, or proof.
4. Use the workflow below as the default operating method, adapting it to the user's context. Explain important trade-offs briefly.
5. Produce the promised artifact first. Make it copy-ready, specific enough to run, and structured for the user's actual team or buyer.
6. Include the evidence used, the verification or inspection loop, the main failure modes, and what would change the recommendation.
7. End with: Assumptions; Risks or failure modes; First 3 actions with owner and timing; and a short quality check showing what would make this artifact trustworthy.

### Output contract

Every workflow must make its output observable. Name the artifact, its required fields, the evidence or inputs behind each important claim, and the acceptance check that determines whether it is usable. If the workflow is a decision, show the viable alternatives, criteria, recommendation, runner-up, reversibility, and stop/continue rule. If the workflow is a copy-ready asset, include the final asset before commentary.

### Evidence and verification

Use the user's evidence first. Label sourced facts, assumptions, estimates, and recommendations. Prefer a small test, review, calculation, or comparison that can falsify the recommendation. Never treat an AI assertion as verification.

### Follow-on behavior

Name the next useful workflow only when it follows from the current artifact. Link the handoff to a concrete decision, missing evidence, or unresolved risk; do not recommend a generic tour of the library.

### Cross-platform behavior

This prompt is designed to work in ordinary chat, Claude, and Codex. Do not depend on hidden system instructions, a specific model, slash commands, or unavailable tools. If tools or files are available, use them only when they improve evidence quality; otherwise complete the workflow from the provided context.

---

---
name: signal-based-outreach
description: "Replace spray-and-pray outbound with signal-triggered outreach, a taxonomy of buying signals (job changes, funding, hiring/JD, tech-stack adds/drops, launches, leadership changes, intent activity), where to source each, a signal→play map, signal-led openers, prioritization by signal strength × ICP fit, and freshness SLAs. MANDATORY TRIGGERS: 'signal-based outreach', 'intent data', 'trigger-based outbound', 'how do I find buying signals', 'who should I reach out to now', 'timing my outreach', 'warm signals for outbound'. STRONG TRIGGERS: 'job change outreach', 'funding signals', 'hiring signals', 'tech stack signals', 'intent signals', 'reach out at the right time', 'relevance in outbound'. Do NOT trigger on: writing the cold sequence mechanics (use cold-outbound-sequence), building the ICP (use icp-builder), or LinkedIn DM motion (use linkedin-outbound). DO trigger when an operator wants to drive outbound from buying signals and timing rather than a static list."
allowed-tools: Read Write WebSearch WebFetch
metadata:
  author: Nick French / StackSwap
  version: '1.0'
  product: Operator Playbook
  website: stackswap.ai/playbook
---

# Signal-Based Outreach

Most outbound is a static list blasted with the same message regardless of whether the prospect has any reason to care today. It gets ignored not because the copy is bad but because the *timing* is random, you're reaching out on a Tuesday for no reason, to someone with no trigger. The best outbound flips that: a signal gives you a reason to reach out *now* and a line that proves you're paying attention. Relevance beats volume, and timing is most of relevance.

> **The difference between ignored outbound and booked meetings is usually timing, not copy. A signal gives you a reason to reach out now, and a credible opener that proves you noticed. Reps blast lists; operators wait for the trigger and move fast.**

This skill builds the signal layer: which signals matter, where to source them, the play each one triggers, the opener that references it without being creepy, and the prioritization and freshness rules that make it operational.

---

## When to use this skill

Trigger on:

- "Signal-based / trigger-based outreach"
- "How do I find buying signals?"
- "Who should I reach out to *now*?"
- "Intent data, how do I use it?"

Don't run for:

- The cold sequence mechanics (use `cold-outbound-sequence`)
- Building the ICP (use `icp-builder`)
- LinkedIn DM motion (use `linkedin-outbound`)

---

## The framework

### 1. The signal taxonomy

Signals, strongest first:

- **Job change**, a champion who used you elsewhere lands a new role (the single highest-converting signal)
- **New role in your buyer persona**, someone just hired into the title that owns your problem (90-day window to set the agenda)
- **Funding**, fresh budget + growth pressure
- **Hiring / JD signals**, a job posting reveals the stack, the pain, and the initiative (hiring SDRs = scaling outbound = needs your thing)
- **Tech-stack adds/drops**, they just bought a complementary tool, or churned a competitor
- **Product launch / expansion**, new motion, new needs
- **Leadership change**, new VP wants to make a mark, re-evaluates the stack
- **Intent / web activity**, they're researching your category (G2, your site, content)

### 2. Signal sourcing (and build-vs-buy)

Where each comes from:

- Job changes / new roles → LinkedIn, Sales Nav alerts, job-change data providers
- Funding → news, Crunchbase-class sources
- Hiring/JD → job boards, careers pages (rich, free, underused)
- Tech-stack → technographic data, the careers-page tool mentions, BuiltWith-class
- Intent → intent-data vendors (the build-vs-buy call: pricey; pilot before committing, run it through `tool-selection-and-build-vs-buy`)

Free signals (job changes, JDs, news) are underused; you don't need an expensive intent platform to start.

### 3. The signal → play map

Each signal triggers a *specific* play, not a generic blast:

| Signal | The play |
| --- | --- |
| Champion job change | "Congrats on the new role" + the value they already know |
| New persona hire | "First 90 days" agenda-setting outreach |
| Funding | growth-pressure framing |
| Hiring SDRs (JD) | "scaling outbound" angle referencing the JD |
| Churned competitor | "heard you're re-evaluating" |

The signal isn't just *why now*, it dictates *what you say*.

### 4. The signal-led opener (relevant, not creepy)

Reference the trigger naturally, the way a well-informed peer would, not in a way that screams "I scraped your data." "Saw you're hiring three SDRs, usually means the outbound number just went up" is relevant. Listing someone's exact tenure and tech stack back to them is creepy. The test: would this opener feel observant or surveilled?

### 5. Prioritization (signal strength × ICP fit)

Not every signal is worth acting on. Score: **signal strength × ICP fit**. A strong signal on a bad-fit account is a waste; a strong signal on a Tier 1 account jumps the queue. This keeps the team working the highest-probability triggers, not just the freshest.

### 6. The freshness window

Signals decay. A job change is hot for ~90 days; a funding round for a few months; intent activity for *days*. Speed is the edge, a signal acted on in 48 hours beats the same signal in three weeks. Build freshness SLAs (intent → same-day; job change → that week).

### 7. Routing & ops

The signal is worthless if it doesn't reach the rep with the play attached. Wire the flow: signal source → enrichment → ICP-fit score → prioritized queue → rep, with the signal→play mapping pre-attached so the rep acts, not researches.

---

## The process when triggered

### Step 1: Pick the signals that fit your motion
From the taxonomy (§1), the 3-5 most relevant and sourceable for your ICP.

### Step 2: Map sourcing
Where each comes from; the build-vs-buy on paid intent (§2).

### Step 3: Build the signal → play map
Each signal → its specific play + opener (§3-4).

### Step 4: Set prioritization
Signal strength × ICP fit scoring (§5).

### Step 5: Set freshness SLAs + routing
Decay windows and how signals flow to reps with the play attached (§6-7).

---

## The artifact (template)

```markdown
# Signal Playbook, [Company], [Date]

## Active signals (by priority)
| Signal | Source | Strength | Freshness SLA | The play | Opener line |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Champion job change | Sales Nav | High | 1 week | known-value re-intro | "Congrats on [role]..." |
| New persona hire | LinkedIn | High | 90 days | 90-day agenda | "First 90 days..." |
| Hiring SDRs | JD/careers | Med | 2 weeks | scaling-outbound | "Saw you're hiring 3 SDRs..." |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Prioritization
score = signal strength × ICP fit → work the top of the queue first

## Routing
source → enrich → ICP-fit score → prioritized queue → rep (with play attached)

## Build-vs-buy
- Free signals to start: [job change, JD, funding]
- Paid intent: [pilot Y/N, via tool-selection]
```

---

## Common mistakes

- **Static list, no trigger.** Reaching out for no reason is why outbound gets ignored. Lead with the signal.
- **Stale signals.** A 6-week-old trigger isn't a trigger. Honor the freshness window.
- **Creepy personalization.** Observant beats surveilled. If it feels scraped, it backfires.
- **Weak signal→play fit.** The signal dictates the message; don't blast the same line on every trigger.
- **Acting on signal without ICP fit.** A hot signal on a bad-fit account is wasted effort.
- **Buying intent data before validating.** Pilot it; free signals get you far first.
- **No routing.** A signal that doesn't reach the rep with the play attached never gets worked.

---

## How to use the artifact downstream

1. **Feeds the sequence**, the signal and opener slot into the first touch of `cold-outbound-sequence`.
2. **Scored by the ICP**, prioritization uses the fit scoring from `icp-builder`.
3. **Sourcing is a stack decision**, the build-vs-buy on intent tools runs through `tool-selection-and-build-vs-buy` and `gtm-stack-audit`.
4. **Pairs with content**, a signal + a relevant `linkedin-content-engine` touch warms the account from two sides.

---

**Outbound gets ignored because the timing is random, not because the copy is weak. Pick the signals that fit your motion, map each to a specific play and a credible opener, prioritize by strength × fit, and act inside the freshness window. Reps blast lists and wonder why. Operators wait for the trigger and book the meeting.**

---

_Part of the StackSwap Operator Playbook. → stackswap.ai/playbook_

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